Judge Drops Some Counts in Denny Beating Case : Courts: Charges that the three defendants tortured the truck driver are thrown out. Attempted murder counts are upheld.

A judge Friday dismissed some counts against the main defendants in the beating of trucker Reginald O. Denny at the start of the Los Angeles riots, but all three remain charged with trying to kill Denny, and all still face life sentences if convicted.

Superior Court Judge John Ouderkirk also ruled that a preliminary hearing last year for Damian Monroe Williams was not sabotaged by the lawyer he had then and that Williams got adequate legal representation. In addition, Ouderkirk discounted the argument that publicity about the case has tainted all potential jurors.

Ouderkirk threw out charges that Williams and his co-defendants, Antoine Miller and Henry Keith Watson, tortured Denny after the truck driver was pulled from his vehicle in the first hours of the violence that erupted after the not guilty verdicts in the beating of Rodney G. King.

The judge also dismissed charges of mayhem on Denny that had been filed against Miller and Watson and which could have led to additional life sentences.

But Ouderkirk upheld numerous other counts against the three, including a charge of mayhem against Williams, saying a jury had to settle those matters.

At one point during a packed hearing in Ouderkirk’s downtown Los Angeles courtroom, many spectators and some defense lawyers misunderstood the judge and mistakenly thought that he had dismissed the attempted murder charge against Miller.

Miller’s mother, Gwen Mayfield, broke into loud sobs of joy but quickly became stone-faced when Ouderkirk made it clear that the charge stood.

In the end, the defense lawyers were clearly disappointed and said they will appeal Ouderkirk’s decisions.

“I do not understand the distinction between no specific intent to torture and the alleged specific intent to commit attempted murder,” said Edi M. O. Faal, one of Williams’ lawyers.

Don Jackson, a police reform activist acting as a spokesman for Williams’ family, called Ouderkirk’s rulings a “blatant example of the duality in the justice system when it deals with blacks.”

The same points the judge made in upholding the attempted murder charges against Williams, Miller and Watson, Jackson said, “could have been made about the Rodney King beating.”

Supporters of the men accused in the Denny beating have maintained that the long list of charges against Miller, Williams and Watson, who are African-Americans, and the comparatively few charges filed against the white officers in the King beating prove that there is unfairness and racism in the criminal justice system.

City and police officials are formulating plans on how to guard against further unrest if Williams, Miller and Watson are convicted. Their trial is scheduled to begin March 15.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence Morrison said after Thursday’s hearing that accusations that the men are inappropriately charged are baseless.

“Any defendants who had committed the crimes these men did would find themselves facing the same charges,” he said.

Morrison said he was pleased that Ouderkirk “upheld the thrust of our case” and did nothing that will significantly affect sentencing if the prosecution prevails during the trial.

Morrison noted that even though the judge dismissed five of 19 charges against Miller and reduced two more from robbery to attempted robbery and receiving stolen property, Miller’s sentencing exposure is reduced only by two months.

In Williams’ case, three charges--torture and two robberies involving victims other than Denny--were dismissed. He faces 16 other counts.

In Watson’s case, two counts--mayhem and torture--were dismissed. He faces five counts.